Baby it's Ceould Outside

My first impression of Seoul was that it is cold. Really cold. As I would learn later, Koreans have a saying, "Seoul is colder than Moscow and hotter than Bangkok." But, it was just my luck as the temperature shaped my trip, and for the better no less!

I touched down at Incheon International Airport on a bitter Tuesday morning after a long night in Narita, and unfortunately had little time to admire the airport that greeted me, for it is one of the nicest I have ever seen! I proceeded to hop on the remarkably convenient airport train into the city of Seoul, and to my stop, the Hongik University station. From there, I found my way to my hostel and crashed for a few hours.

After an evening stroll exploring the neighborhood, I met up with my friend Jennifer, a native of Seoul. She was an incredible hostess throughout my time in Seoul and truly made the experience unforgettable. Our first stop that frosty Tuesday night was Korean barbecue. Yum. We barbecued pork on the grill in the middle of our table and had a spicy stew over rice at this little local's place in the Hongdae district where I was staying. We proceeded to another meal, at another restaurant, of chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce served piping hot with cheese. Another local joint, this one was complete with an army theme including beer mugs shaped like canteen style infantry cups. The food was amazing and the beer washed it down nicely. After the second round, Jennifer and I parted ways as the hour was getting late and she had to work the next day.

Wednesday in Seoul was filled by a visit to Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul. A fellow American staying at the hostel named Dan and I set out in the morning. Our first stop was the electronics market at Yongsan to procure Dan a new camera. Impressive place of multiple floors filled with electronics. The first floor was only cameras and was jammed full. Regular point and shoot, DSLR, lenses big and small, and even a section for binoculars of blatantly unnecessary size! Then we hit the palace and roamed for a bit through the sights mainly admiring the intricate decoration on all levels of the palace. A quick browse through the National Folk Museum within the palace grounds including a chance encounter with a group from Beacon Hill, Seattle natives en route to Taiwan, and we set out for lunch. We somehow ended up near a famous shopping street and lunched on kimchee soup and beef bulgogi. Quite good. After lunch, we wandered back to the hostel to await dinner. Jennifer invited Dan and I to Gangnam--yes, that's THE Gangnam--for a traditional Korean dinner with a friend from her work and her sister Bo, who I had met previously over Korean BBQ when Jennifer visited her in Seattle. Mmm, it was fantastic! Multiple courses of small dishes of pork, ahi, kimchee and more all accompanied with rice. Then we headed out for some local soju and makkoli, a rice-based hard alcohol and wine, respectively. Both were great! Soju goes down smooth but with a bit of an aftertaste of Clorox, while makkoli is just amazing. A cloudy, heavy wine, the taste is very nice and comes in different flavors, the best of which was chestnut in my opinion. After that, we retired for the evening.

Thursday was quite an exciting day taking in one of the most touristic activities in Korea: the DMZ. The border dividing North and South Korea, known as the De-Militarized Zone, or DMZ, reaches across the entire Korean Peninsula around the 38th parallel. Tours run daily to visit famous sights rich with historical significance and even a glimpse into North Korea. The morning started at Freedom Bridge just outside the DMZ where the last prisoner exchange occurred before the ceasefire agreement. Then we visited the third tunnel found between north and South Korea. It was found by the South Koreans in the 1970's and contained North Korean-made tools and which appeared to originate in North Korea, who curiously claimed the South had dug it themselves. Fascinating. After that, we headed to Dora Observatory and took in the view of North Korea. As it was a very foggy day, we could not see much across the plain into North Korea, and henceforth were unable to see the tallest flagpole in the world, which flies the DPRK flag everyday. Go North Korea... Finally we stopped at Dorasan Station, the northernmost train station in South Korea. It was rebuilt with very modern train lines and looks odd as it is quite deserted. However, the intention is to encourage, and prepare for, reunification with the north, if and when that can be achieved. From there we eased back to Seoul and rested for the day. On Friday, I went deep undercover investigating the cafe scene around the Hongdae district of Seoul. My cover was as a fellow university student, complete with ipad and earbuds and a few books. Little did the unsuspecting students know I was just on Facebook and writing about traveling. No homework! Haha! But I digress. The cafe scene is very lively, and probably the most interesting I've seen outside of the Pacific Northwest. I found four of the most amazing cafés with great atmosphere within a square mile, and those were only the ones I stopped at. Many more beckoned, but the day wore on and I headed back to the hostel for some evening entertainment. Dan, two swedes, an American guy teaching English in Korea and an American serviceman stationed in Korea, and myself went out for a night on the town. We had a couple of beers at a bar before hitting a Korean night club. The club was packed! And playing the good stuff. Electronica and American hip hop. Loved the dancing, reminded me of my European escapades of studying abroad. But after a bit, Dan and I called it an early night and headed back to prepare for the Buddhist temple stay we were going to the next day.

On Saturday, Dan and I awoke and went to join Jennifer, her friend Sera from her work and another friend Kieran, an Irishman teaching English in Korea for lunch before going to a Buddhist temple overnight to learn the way of the Monks. The temple was up in the hills north of Seoul and after a short hike we arrived at the the gates of the temple which would be our home for the next 24 hours. We changed into Buddhist attire and proceeded to receive orientation and a tour of the temple before our vegetarian meal. After dinner ad mediation, we bowed, or prostrated, 108 times to repent for the "delusions of the mind" including for valuing material things and hurting animals, among many others (106 others, to be exact). Now, this isn't your regular bend at the waist kind of bow. We're talking a full bow in which you touch your forehead to the ground. Afterwards, on the way back down to the main temple, we all gripped the handrail as our legs were a bit wobbly. A 9pm bedtime preceded a 4:30am alarm of a monk banging on a wood drum.

After wakeup, we meditated, ate breakfast, which included drinking of your dishwater, and participated in counsel work around the temple. Finally, after a brief hike for some great views of the temple and hillside and lunch, the time had come to leave the humble comforts of the temple. The five of us said goodbye to the temple staff, the nice monk who took excellent care of us and the new friends we met, including an American brother and sister participating in the temple stay as well. What a great experience! On the way back to Seoul, we headed for an old shopping district near the presidential palace (named The Blue House for its blue roof) and ended up sampling the dessert fare of Korea. Amazing rice cakes, teas and a cake with sweet potato ice cream. What a treat! But that was just the beginning. From there, we headed to a large market in Seoul to have beef sashimi (and soju), followed by traditional Korean pancakes, chicken feet, pig skin, pig ears, pig feet, and fish cakes (all accompanied with soju and makkoli). All were quite good! And, for the main event, we had ate octopus... which was still moving. In fact, it was hard to remove from the plate because the tentacles stuck so hard to the plate. But it was tasty. The smaller tentacles were eaten raw, but the larger pieces were mixed with vegetables and a spicy sauce and grilled together. My mouth is watering as I think back on it! Of course, all of this accompanied with soju. We finished the night off at an irish pub in the Itaewon district of Seoul, near the American military base. A few beers later and we were all feeling the 4:30am wake up, so we called it a night then.

What an amazing time in Seoul. I must say I am grateful to the wonderful hospitality of Jennifer and her friends, whom I am lucky to call my own friends now (at least if Facebook counts...) as well as the new ones we made throughout the week. Amazing experience all around, and one I will never forget. Now, the airplane to Beijing beckons, and I am off to a new adventure in China!